What it meant to burn, to be engulfed by flames, Wanderer understood what it meant now. No, Liang Chen remembered what it meant now. That rage, that familiar wrath, it nestled in his chest, filled his very being. He was sad. He felt it deep within him, a cold sorrow at the miserable loss of life, the pointless carnage that swallowed the city around him. But above that sorrow was the rage, the endless wrath that scorched even the cold sorrow.

Yes, he was sad. But it was the anger that defined him, it was the anger that drove him, pushed him forwards. That had been the case in the past, when he first started his bloody journey, and it was the case even after he lost his memories. The path to peace wasn’t good enough, he had thrown away the chance at safety because of the anger in his chest, that lone spark waiting to erupt.

«One scream is a note, a handful of screams is a verse, a myriad of screams is a melody, and all the screams in the world is the song.»

A voice rang out within Liang Chen as the fire swallowed him, as the rage reignited. It was a familiar voice, he now realized that it had been years since he last heard it, but it was familiar nonetheless. With just a slight move of his mind he found himself within the bloody city that symbolized his soulsea, but now it was perhaps better to say that it represented what he considered his own mind. And there he stood, golden snake-like pupils and a head full of hair so crimson that it looked like it was dripping with blood. Purgatory, the creator of the test and the reason Liang Chen’s memories had been sealed away.

«The world screamed and I responded, people screamed and I responded. That is who I was, what I was made for. But in the end, I was abandoned like everyone else, and no one bothered to respond to my screams. That is the fate of all those who burn, a cold and lonely grave that won’t be warmed by any amount of wrath.»

Purgatory kicked about the blood around him as he spoke, bitterly complaining about his fate. He fought for the world, he ensured that people would have better lives. But in the end, he didn’t even get a proper tomb until countless years later, he was just left in the dirt, lost to time. Liang Chen didn’t bother responding, he had already told Purgatory everything he had to say on that matter so he just waited for Purgatory to say what it actually wanted to say.

«Hah, still cold. Good. That’s good, new... Liang Chen, if you’re not cold enough to distance yourself then that heat, that burning, will turn you to ash. I’m done. I did my fighting, I already got my unjust ending. Now it’s your turn, that’s the right you’ve acquired after passing the test.»

Purgatory’s lips curved up in a twisted manner as it spoke, wading through the blood as it approached Liang Chen. The fate of all those who burned was to become ash, but if you were cold then you could at least offset that fate a little, buy yourself some time to burn more people. Purgatory stopped in front of Liang Chen and stretched out an arm, presenting its hand. And Liang Chen took that hand, accepted it as he had so many other things.

«Now it’ll be you who accepts the song of the world, all the way down to the smallest note. The sky that catches all screams, the heaven that dispenses all punishment, that is your new identity. Sin burns sin, I look forward to seeing how brightly your sin will burn, oh new lord of heaven’s wrath.»

Purgatory started to dissipate as it spoke, flaking away like ash in the wind, that twisted and even slightly relieved smile the last thing to fade away. Purgatory had already fused with his body, that was why several years had passed between him meeting Purgatory and waking up. If he failed the test then it would just remain within him, unknown to him until it killed him. But if he succeeded then it would lead to this, a quiet succession ceremony without any fancy exchanges, he already had the power of Purgatory after the fusion after all, this finally exchange was just Purgatory handing over the last bit of information on how to use it. And as he understood its power, he understood its parting words, sin burns sin.

He opened his eyes after Purgatory faded, returning to the ruined city where time seemed to stand still. He felt power, seething and raging power unlike anything he had felt before. Purgatory was a mass of energy with consciousness, a power with a mind of its own. And that energy, that power, had all been transferred to him, become part of him. How strong was he now, after first becoming an elemental and then taking in Purgatory? How strong would he be once he fed the Flames of Wrath? He didn’t know, he truly didn’t know.

«Wanderer... Are you okay...?»

He heard a familiar voice from behind him, a worried and somewhat hesitant voice squeezed out between labored breaths. He didn’t need to turn his head to see Ching Shih standing there, his hand reaching out somewhat uneasily. Ching Shih, captain of the Sand Sovereign, he had been very good to Liang Chen the entire time they had been together. But now, now Liang Chen could tell what lurked within Ching Shih. His soul unraveled itself without Liang Chen even needing to turn his head, his past laid bare.

There was sin there, but perhaps he had already expected that after seeing how Ching Shih dealt with the Moving Fortress. But Ching Shih was human, so where there was sin, there was virtue. He had done good, not just to Liang Chen but to many others as well. He was a pirate, but he wasn’t all bad, he struck a balance in life. And that balance was one that Liang Chen could accept, it was a balance that sought to lean towards virtue, a balance that deserved to flourish.

He thought about what to say, but it struck him almost instantly. The freedom that came with a name, the right you were given when you were given a name. That was what Ching Shih had told him, taught him, so that would be his response.

«I wander no more.»

Wanderer was dead, he ceased to exist when Liang Chen found himself, remembered his duty. Heaven’s Wrath, that was the new name he had been given, that was the new freedom he had gained. And now he would excersice that freedom, take it for himself no matter what anyone else tried to say.

His arm rose and his hand stretched out, his fingers gently resting on the attack that hung in the air. The energy that had sealed off and hidden his interspatial ring vanished, fading away so that it saw the light of day again. But he didn’t bring anything out from within the ring, he simply called forth a bit of his energy and sent it into the attack.

The energy sustaining the attack, the vicious energy that had stolen countless lives in this city, faded away to nothingness. It was strong, but it wasn’t stronger than Liang Chen, stronger than the void. Liang Chen raised his foot and stepped forwards, his gaze locked on the beast-man trembling in terror.

«Are you afraid, Jyugo?»

The man’s life unraveled in front of Liang Chen’s eyes, every event from birth to his rapidly approaching death flickering past his gaze. He couldn’t resist Liang Chen’s poison so his every act was as clear as day to him, he could look at his life like he looked at the scenery around him.

«Did the Golden Branch not warn you? Did they not give you guys any information? Did the Golden Worldtree perhaps just toss you away to die?»

Liang Chen knew the answer to all these questions, he just asked them to get into the head of the beast-man, Jyugo. The Golden Branch sect, a close ally of the Tranquil Lake, the organization headed by the Sky-Piercing Sparrow. He hadn’t dealt with them in quite a while since he left their range of influence, but now it seemed like they had even spread all the way to the Heaven and Hell Dominion. The Golden Worldtree was the moniker of their founder and leader, someone who had reached the peak of the Transcended Immortal realm, or very possibly already entered the Sovereign God realm. He was on the list already, his sins were just waiting to burn.

But jyugo wouldn’t burn. No, his sins weren’t going to turn to ash that settled in Purgatory, it wouldn’t become fuel for the Flames of Wrath. No, Liang Chen had a different plan for him, a different plan for the people that had come here and sown such chaos. He stopped in front of Jyugo, whose face was devoid of blood as he shivered, his feet refusing to take even a single step.

«Do you hear them, Jyugo? The screams, I mean. They echo through the city, both those of the past and those in the present. It’s all just screams and howls, sorrow and anger in droves, enough to drown a man. I want you to hear them, Jyugo, I want you to see them. I want you to drown in what you have brought about»

Liang Chen’s voice was cold and calm, almost insidious. His poison spread out, sank into the world and dredged out what lurked within. Vestiges rose to the surface, indistinct figures appeared all throughout the city. Those who died in the past and those who were dying in this attack, vestige after vestige was dredged up. Each one screamed in Liang Chen’s ears, their anger and hatred becoming fuel for his poison. Each one was a silenced scream, forgotten to time. But each one was caught by him, each one was heard by him. And he answered them.

«Take them, Jyugo, some of them are screaming for you directly.»

Liang Chen’s hand reached out, a finger brushing against Jyugo’s forehead. The simple touch unleashed the poison, the dredged up vestiges. It all flooded into jyugo, a constant stream of death and anguish that drowned out all other thoughts. The final memories of their deaths, the rage they felt as they fell, the anguish and the pain.

Liang Chen didn’t turn it into poison he could draw energy from, he simply turned it upon Jyugo so that he could experience what he sowed, so that he could discover what the world hid. Some of the vestiges had indeed been left by those Jyugo killed, but most came from the past, they had nothing to do with Jyugo. But they didn’t care about that, they only cared that they had found someone to hear their screams, someone to share their pain and sorrow.

Jyugo crumbled under the anguish, the screams and the pain. His mouth hung open and his throat moved, but no sound managed to leave his mouth. Only blood poured out, the insides of his throat so torn up from that single silent scream that it would be irreparably ruined even if he managed to survive this encounter.

But he wasn’t going to survive this encounter. His eyes started to roll back, drool mixing with the blood pouring out of his mouth. Eventually, his legs simply lost all strength and he fell to the ground, his eyes empty and hollow as he laid there, his breaths so shallow that they were hard to notice. His body was alive, but his mind had crumbled, collapsed under the screams and pain. Or perhaps his mind had killed itself to escape the torment, perhaps it saw more comfort in death than it did in such a horrible existence.

Liang Chen looked down at the broken man, there wasn’t an ounce of mercy to be found in his expression. He opened his hand, a tiny puff of crimson mist leaving his palm and sinking into Jyugo. The beast-man’s body started to flake and fade away as the power of Purgatory burned it, as the Flames of Wrath burned it.

Flesh and bones faded into the wind, one broken existence vanishing from the world here. But the small puff of mist still remained, a small crimson cloud rising from what used to be a man. The mist was a little bit bigger than it was when Liang Chen sent it into the man, the Flames of Wrath burned a little brighter.

Sin burned sin, that was one of Purgatory’s abilities. Each sin burned was taken in, each sin burned was shouldered by Purgatory, by the lord of heavenly wrath. And with each new burden, the flames burned brighter, burned stronger. But Liang Chen didn’t use flames so this ability had moved into his own elements instead. The more sin he scorched, the stronger they would burn, until one day they could swallow the world.

Liang Chen caught the mist and allowed it to sink back into his body, a searing sensation running up his arm. Sin burned sin. Liang Chen burned sin, but he wasn’t free of sin. As such, he too burned under the flames. If they one day became stronger than what he could bear then he would fade like the rest, that was the fate of all those who burned.

«Try all you like, my sin will burn forever.»

But he didn’t care. He wouldn’t meet that end, he wouldn’t allow it. One sin needed to tower above all others, one sin needed to extinguish all others for the sake of the world he desired. And he would be that sin so he wouldn’t allow himself to fade away.

He raised his head slightly once the burning sensation started to fade, his gaze piercing through the ruins around him. This beast-man wasn’t the only one, there were still several others spreading havoc, fighting with the guards as they looked for him.

The sky suddenly grew dark, black clouds blotting out the sun as they covered everything. A drop of rain fell from the clouds, another one quickly following it, a torrential downpour suddenly hitting the city while the wind howled furiously. The violet flames burning across the city were extinguished by the pouring rain, a bone-chilling sensation assaulting those in the city.

And then a red flash lit up the city, the roaring sound of thunder shutting out all other sounds. A red crack appeared in the clouds as a crimson bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, a multitude of bolts following the first one and bathing the city in their crimson glow, bathing Liang Chen in their majesty. One sin had been burned, but there were still many more left.